Fans and analysts alike agree: the 15 game suspension handed down to Bruins enforcer Shawn Thornton after the 'attack' on Pittsburgh's Orpik is a little excessive.

It looks like Thorty and his attorneys agree because he has become the first player under the new CBA to appeal a suspension. The process, according to the new CBA, is as follows:

The current appeal goes straight to NHL Commissioner (and public enemy number one) Gary Bettman. Bettman will have an in person hearing with Thornton to hear the grounds of the appeal and make a decision based on this and the details of the incident.

If Thornton does not agree with the decision Bettman makes, he can then appeal that decision to a neutral arbitrator.

Update: Thorty's appeal hearing is scheduled for Friday

The incident that caused this suspension was obviously controversial. To recap: Thornton grabbed Orpik from behind after play had been whistled dead in the first period of the 12/7 game and proceeded to punch him twice in the face while he was down on the ice. This resulted in Orpik suffering from a concussion and Thornton getting a match penalty for the game and the subsequent suspension.

Many people do not agree with the length of the suspension, which I find to be completely understandable. The fact that Thornton should have been suspended for what he did is not debatable: the league cannot allow actions like this to go unpunished. But the punishment handed down was excessive. I say this because, looking at similar incidents that have occurred in the past and looking at the punishments handed down therein, it is obvious there is either a severe bias within Shanahan's Player Safety Administration or the administration is lacking consistency (or both).

We will use Penguin's Neal as an example of this inconsistency and possible bias. Neal was given a two minute kneeing penalty after he purposefully kneed a downed Marchand in the head in the same game that Thornton received his match penalty in. Although Marchand was able to return to the game and Orpik was not, both Thornton and Neal had their own meetings with Shanahan. However, Neal's was over the phone and he was only given 5 games.

The length of this suspension is a little concerning, considering that Neal is a repeat offender. He was fined in 2011 for a high sticking violation on Montreal's P.K. Subban and suspended for a game in 2012 after he laid a questionable hit on Philadelphia's Claude Giroux. And yet, despite his history of making "not smart decisions" (as Neal puts it), he is still being given minimal punishment despite repetitive dangerous behavior.

And then there is Thornton, who has never been suspended in his entire NHL career despite being known as one of the scariest enforcers in the league. He definitely made a poor decision and caused serious harm to someone. But as a first time offender who has proven up until this point that you can be a clean player and an enforcer at the same time, 15 games is excessive. In calling the suspension excessive, you have to consider that other players who are repeat offenders and who also caused grievous injury are being let off with smaller suspensions or just slaps on the wrist. And that just isn't fair.

It's obvious here that the league is attempting to use Shawn Thornton as an example. But they chose the wrong man to do it. You can't make an example out of someone who has never done anything suspension worthy in his career. You use people who continually make these "mistakes" as the examples; you use them to show that the league will not tolerate people continually hurting other players. But alas, the league and Shanahan do not see it that way. The reason they don't see it this way is a mystery but the only way to somewhat alleviate the situation was for Thornton to appeal.

Now I know a lot of Penguins fans are saying that Shawn Thornton is appealling because he isn't actually remorseful for what he's done and thinks he was right in making his decision. First, I must say that Thornton is not appealing the fact that he was suspended. He is appealing the length of the suspension. I must also point to the video of Thornton after the game, where he was almost in tears talking about the incident and was apologizing profusely to counter those claiming he isn't sorry for what he did.

To further explain why Thornton has made the decision to appeal I would like to point everyone to DJ Bean's article on WEEI.com. Bean says that Thornton can appeal and still feel remorseful for what he's done for the sole reason that Thornton, more likely than not, is not appealing because he thinks the decision to suspend him was wrong.

Based on the above video, it's obvious Thornton knew what was coming. But as Bean put it, once the suspension was handed down, Thornton became someone "who's been hit where it hurts -- his wallet -- more than he'd care to be." Most people don't realize this but Thornton is not a high paid player and he never has been. After the lockout last year and the fact that he doesn't have much longer in the league considering his age, Thornton has every right to appeal the length seeing as he's having a great deal of money taken from him.

So all in all the league handed down a sentence that was far too excessive considering all of the factors involved and Thornton, who deserves to be suspended, has every right to appeal the length of said suspension.

And although this whole situation is still very messy and controversial, there is no word on when Thornton's new hearing with Bettman will occur. I'll keep you guys updated as we find out more.